Table-leaf support



(Model) Y TABLE LEAF SUPPORT. 282,350- -RNLQQLQiJnH- ;--l8831-1 I I I l UNITED STATES P TENT OFFICE.

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TABLE-LEA F SUPPORT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 282,350, dated July 31, 1883,

l v Application filed December 18, 1882. (ModeL) To aZZ whom it may concern: Be it known thatI, ELISHA Mnrs, of Rochester, in the county, of Monroe and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Table-Leaf Supports, which improvement is fully. set forth in the following specification and accompanying drawings.

The object of my invention is mainly to produce a table-leaf support which shall, when standing under the raised leaf, be rigidly locked into place against anylateral pressure tending to displace it ,and it consists in parts and devices hereinafter fully described, and

more particularly pointed out in the claims. 1

- Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved leaf-support in position. under the leaf of the table, with parts shown in different position; Fig. 2, a plan of the same,viewed as indicated by the arrow Y in Fig. 1, with parts broken away and other parts occupying different positions; Fig. 3, a detached view of the end of the brace with adjacent parts, viewed as indicated by the arrow 2 in Fig. 1, the brace being transversely sectioned at the inner face of the block f for the purpose of showing its. form more fully; and Fig. 4, a detached view of the parts shown in Fig. 3, viewed as in Fig. 1, with the lower end of the brace partially withdrawn from the cavity in which it rests while supporting the leaf.

Referring to the parts, A is the top of a table; B, the leaf, joined to the top- A in the usual manner, and O the rail, all of common construction. r

b is a brace forming the support proper for the leaf, attached to the under surface of the latter by means of a horizontal pivot-pin, a, held within a head-block, d, secured to the leaf. At the other end the brace b is formed into a tapering tongue, 0, terminating in a hook, it, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, which tongue in cross-section is dovetailed in form, as shown in Fig. 3, fitting a similarlyshaped foot-rest or cavity, e, formed into the block f, secured to the under edge of the rail 0. The

brace b is flattened for a distance at the mid dle b" thereof, having its greater thickness in a vertical plane, by means of which flattened part it acts as a spring, and is made thus to be bent laterally, as shown in dotted position in Fig. 2,.returning again on account of its elasticity to its normal position (shown in full lines in said figure) when released. The head 9 of the spring-brace b, entering the block (I, is made broad for the purpose of giving it a suffficient bearing to enable it to resist the strain due to the lateral bending ofsaid brace just mentioned. A flat spring, 71, is secured to the under edge of the brace b at k, with its free end resting at 8 against a projection, Z, of the blockd, as shown, which spring forms means by which the brace b is held at all times up against the rail 0 or top A of the table, as described below. This spring is formed and at- 'tached to the brace bin such a'manner that its action is at all times in a direction at right angles with the direction of the spring action of said brace 12; and thefunction of the spring h is to prevent said brace swinging downward to pend vertically from' the pivot-pin a, as it otherwise would when its lower end or foot, 0,

is released from the cavity or rest 6 for the same in operating the support. The spring is enabled to hold the brace upward, as above stated, on account of having its bearing 8 against the rest Z at a point beyond the point of pivot motion a of the brace,

from k-the point of junction between said brace and spring, as appears from the dotted lines a and 0 in Fig. 1. The former line passes through the pivot a and the latter through the point 8 of bearing of the spring against the rest Z, which arrangement of the bearing of the spring'causes it to press upward against the brace 72 "at and hold the said brace up, as stated.

An offset bend in the brace at 1? enables the latter to move by theend of the block f during the descent of the leaf B, said brace slid ingupon the edge of the rail 0 at 7* until the foot or tongue creaches the under surface of the top A of the table,when it slides in dotted lines in Fig. 1 when the leaf is vertical. The foot 0 of the brace is fitted with a dovetail to the block f, as above stated, so that it may not be readily displaced by a child pulling thereat or from other cause, and let the leaf fall undesignedly; or,'to more fully describe it, the tongue 0 is thickerat the leftmeasuring 1 along the same, the brace b occupying the position shown I hand side, as it appears in Fig. 3, than at the right-hand side thereof, by means of which, when in place, it cannot be drawn out of the cavity 6 in the block f in a direction toward the right, which will be easily understood from the figure. This dovetailed form of the foot or tongue 0 is an essential part of my invention, for, were it a mere inclined plane or wedge, it might be drawn sidewise out of the cavity of the block f by accident, and so let the leaf down. When the tongue 0 is in the cavity e of the block, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the shoulder; of the brace rests against the side of the block to support the leaf, and when thus locked in the cavity lateral displacement of the brace cannot. take place,which must occur before the leaf can be lowered. By raising'the leaf slightly upward to the position shown in dotted lines at t, the tongue 0 will be drawn partly out of the cavity 6, as shown in Fig. 4., when the brace may be drawn laterally out of the cavity to the position in dotted lines in Fig. 2, above mentioned, and the leaf allowed to fall. The hook it at the end of the tongue prevents the latter being drawn entirely out of the cavity 6 by lifting against the leaf, on account of said hook coming against the inner surface of the block f, as shown in Fig. a. Whenthe leaf Bis raised the brace 1) slides by or past the end of the block f, as above stated. until the bend p in the brace arrives at said block, when the brace is bent or sprung laterally to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 by pressing against the end of the block as the leaf moves upward, and upon the end 0 of the brace arriving opposite the cavity e it is urged into the latter on account of the elasticity of the brace, and becomes automatically locked therein, as stated.

I claim as my invention- 1. In combination with the leaf B and rail 0 of a fall-leaf table, a support for the leaf,

consisting of the spring-brace .12, attached at one end to the leaf at a, with a flexible joint,

with its opposite end or foot, 0, formed to enter 4 5 a cavity or rest, e, at the edge of the rail when in position to support the leaf, the said brace being made thin or flattened at b, to act as a spring and be capable of being bent or sprung laterally out of the rest e, substantially as shown, with means to uphold said brace, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In combination with the leaf B and rail 0 of a table, the flattened spring-brace b for the leaf, attached to the latter by a fiexiblej oint or bearing at a, and the flat spring h, secured at the under side of said brace and lying substantially parallel therewith, and the headblock d, for holding the head 9 of the brace 12, provided with the rest Z for the spring h, the point of bearing 8 of said spring upon the rest Zbeing beyond the pivot or bearing a of the brace, substatially as shown and described.

3. The combination, with the leaf B and rail 0 of a table, of the block f, secured to the rail and formed with a cavity, e, and the springbrace' I), having an offset bend, P, with its foot or tongue 0 fitted to saidcavity or rest 6, substantially as set forth.

4. In combination with the leaf and rail of a table, a support for the leaf attached thereto, and consisting of a brace, 1), formed at its lower end with a tongue, 0, shoulder i, and hook u, said tongue being dovetailed in form in cross-section, as shown, of the block f,secured to the rail, and having the cavity 6, said, cavity being formed, substantially as described, to fit and hold the tongue, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. I

E. METS.

Witnesses:

E. B. WHITMoRE, L. O. MoCoNNELL. 

